Echo opinion: Media is accountable to fight antisemitism

Echo Opinion published in The Denver Post: For Colorado’s Jewish community, praying in peace means confronting anti-Semitism.

by Scott Levin, Joseph R. Black and Jay Strear.

November 9 and November 10, 1938

We are deeply grateful that Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker* and three congregants at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas were able to escape safely after being taken hostage during last Saturday’s worship services. This attack against a sacred community in the middle of Sabbath services should be shocking to all people who share the bedrock principle that all of us, no matter our religion, should be allowed to pray free from fear.

The trauma caused by the perpetrator of this heinous act extended far beyond the small congregation in Colleyville. It added to the concerns of Jews in Colorado and around the country that such a horrific event could happen in their synagogues. While the hostage-taker’s focus may have been on the release of a convicted terrorist with links to Al Qaeda, he did not choose a library, shopping mall or church to try to leverage his ask; he chose a synagogue. This was an act of antisemitism, plain and clear.

Antisemitism has reached a high-water mark in the United States. Unfortunately, being on edge and hypervigilant is very much a part of the American Jewish experience. We saw it in the aftermath of the rally in Charlottesville in 2017, when white supremacists chanted “Jews shall not replace us” while marching with their tiki torches across the University of Virginia campus; the deadly shootings at synagogues in Pittsburgh in 2018 and Poway in 2019, and the subsequent attacks on Jewish targets in Jersey City, New Jersey and Monsey, New York.

In 2020, 2,024 incidents of assault, harassment and vandalism in the United States were reported to the Anti-Defamation League, the third-highest year for incidents against American Jews since ADL started tracking such data in 1979. In Colorado, there were 60 antisemitic incidents reported in 2020, just one less than the high set in 2019. A 2021 ADL poll found that well over half of Jewish Americans have either experienced or directly witnessed some form of an antisemitic incident in the last five years.

The lack of attention to such a shocking antiemetic terrorism serves to normalize antisemitism.

So, when The Denver Post failed last Sunday to give prominent attention to the taking of hostages at gunpoint during worship services in Colleyville, it was painful. 

Sadly, the synagogue story was relegated to the “Briefs” section on page 13, a section that included a story about the value of superstar Prince’s estate. 

We recognize that print deadlines may have passed, but steps should have been taken so that this terrible event was not made to appear less relevant than the primary story on page 2 about the “Nasal Ranger,” a machine that detects smells.

Additionally, we would have expected The Post and other media to reach out to local clergy and community leaders in the immediate aftermath of the hostage-taking to report on the impact to our local community. When they failed to do so, the Jewish community felt isolated and vulnerable. The lack of attention to such a shocking event serves to normalize antisemitism.

To counter this normalization, ADL, JEWISHcolorado and the Rocky Mountain Rabbis and Cantors hosted a virtual forum Tuesday night for an interfaith response to antisemitism. 

More than 8,500 separate screens tuned into the online program to see government officials including Gov. Jared Polis, Attorney General Phil Weiser, Denver Police Chief Paul Pazen, and Reps. Dafna Michaelson Jenet and Iman Jodeh, as well as clergy and leaders from the Christian, Muslim, Sikh, Hindu, African American, Asian American, and Pacific Islander communities, proclaim that antisemitism and hate are unacceptable. The fact that so many people watched the program demonstrated the very real need our community had to receive the heartfelt support of others.

As the leaders of two of the largest Jewish advocacy organizations and the largest synagogue in Colorado, we fear that violence is never far behind the normalization of antisemitism. We ask everyone, including The Denver Post, to do a better job of timely speaking out against antisemitic events when they occur.

Scott Levin is a regional director at the Anti-Defamation League. Rabbi Joseph R. Black is the senior rabbi at Temple Emanuel, and Rabbi Jay Strear is the CEO of JEWISHcolorado.

*Since Rabbi Charlie arrived at Congregation Beth Israel, in Colleyville, Texas, he has worked to bring a sense of spirituality, compassion, and learning into the lives of our community. He loves finding a connection with people of every age

Freedom of Religion includes the freedom to worship in safety!

The Jewish hostages escaped in Colleyville, Texas. But synagogues ask, "How can they be more secure?" The hostages whispered instructions and edged closer to the door — part of invaluable training that anxious congregations are using. 

"But when the gunman ordered the men to kneel, they decided they had to take action. The rabbi grabbed a chair and heaved it at the gunman. The hostages ran for the door." Rabbi, Charlie Cytron-Walker, has been called heroic.

Echo opinion letter published in The New York Times:

Particularly as a member of the Jewish community, I thank God that the hostages taken at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas, on Saturday were able to get free.

Synagogues: "My synagogue now imposes a supplemental fee to our membership dues for security, and government appropriations have been provided to endangered houses of worship in an effort to keep congregants safe," Oren Spiegler.

Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker is a hero. He deftly used the skills he had learned in security training to choose the proper moment to divert the attacker and escape, and he did so because he sensed that the perpetrator was becoming increasingly agitated and dangerous. Deserving of honorable mention are the law enforcement officials who negotiated with the gunman and were no doubt prepared to rush in to carry out a dangerous rescue mission if necessary.

While the outcome was the best possible under the circumstances, I am saddened and outraged that the country has experienced yet another senseless assault on peaceful people at worship that will surely haunt those involved and Jews throughout the country, and bring a heightened concern for safety to those of my faith who wish to be able to worship without fear.

Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker

We live in a country in the midst of a new era of hatred and intolerance, including a rising level of antisemitism and anti-Asian prejudice that manifests itself in harassment and assaults on innocent people who are simply going about their daily lives, posing no threat to anyone.

My synagogue now imposes a supplemental fee to our membership dues for security, and government appropriations have been provided to endangered houses of worship in an effort to keep congregants safe.

May people of good will somehow bring us back to the values and ideals of America. May we all be able to someday live in a country defined by tolerance, acceptance of others and peace.

Oren Spiegler, Peters Township, Pennsylvania

Maine Writer post script:  The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says that everyone in the United States has the right to practice his or her own religion- "caveat.........and to do so in a safe place of worship!".